By Jesse Fink
August 1st 2008 @ 7:11am
Fun and games at the AFC
There was a fascinating story yesterday about the personality clash between Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed bin Hammam and former AFC secretary and kingmaker Peter Velappan. This one has been brewing for years and has suddenly exploded spectacularly.
The flashpoint came when Bin Hammam announced he would welcome tenders for the headquarters of the AFC, which has been based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for donkey’s years. Bin Hammam is Qatari. Velappan is Malaysian.
Not surprisingly, Velappan is livid.
He had to live with the ignominy of having Bin Hammam ride roughshod over the empire he assiduously built himself since the 1960s. He was demoted. His power was blunted. He was gagged from speaking publicly to the media without his minders vetting his words first. (I know, because when I was writing my book 15 Days in June I wasn’t allowed to speak to him. Bin Hammam, however, was made available.)
Velappan, now officially retired but ostensibly still very much a player in regional football politics, has gone to town on Bin Hammam. In an interview with Philip Micallef, Velappan has described the decision to invite tenders for a HQ move as “totally outrageous… [Bin Hammam] is showing selfishness and a complete disregard for the history of Asian football…
“The president obviously has a hidden agenda and ulterior motives. Who knows, he might want the AFC to move to his country Qatar, that has a lot of money because of oil.”
Unambiguous. Direct. Loaded.
The gloves are off.
Velappan is no innocent, let’s make that clear.
What the late Charlie Dempsey was to the Oceania Football Confederation, Velappan was to the AFC. Conservative. A bulwark to progress. Immovable.
It was a stubborn Velappan who for decades held out against inducting into Australia into the AFC, stoking the cultural tensions between Malaysia and Australia for his political ends.
In the book, I quote a very highly placed source with a history of personal relations with the AFC as telling me there “was a longstanding attitude within the highest levels of the AFC that Australians were uncultured, insensitive, racist thugs and this had effectively kyboshed our overtures to Asia before they’d even had a chance to be heard”.
Former Australian Soccer Federation chairman Ian Brusasco wouldn’t name Velappan or anyone else by name but said that during his time running the game “there were powerful forces that didn’t want us to join”.
“The the guy that made everything happen,” fellow Australian soccer boss John Constantine told me, “was Velappan.” So parochially speaking, Australians don’t owe Velappan any sympathy.
But he has a legitimate gripe with Bin Hammam.
As Micallef writes: “Since becoming AFC president in 1996, Bin Hammam has overseen the naming of Qatar as the venue of the 2011 Asian Cup and the United Arab Emirates as hosts of the 2009 and 2010 FIFA Club World Cup.”
Now, conceivably, his office will be moved to Doha, along with everything else that isn’t bolted to the floor at Asia House in Bukit Jalil, KL.
The West Asian bloc in the AFC has long wielded disproportionate power in the 46-member AFC and it is getting worse. How, for instance, Qatar was allowed to move on to the final round of World Cup qualifiers after fielding a ineligible Brazilian against Iraq is something that is yet to be satisfactorily explained.
It’s an open-and-shut case. But Qatar plays on and the AFC turns a blind eye.
Equally, though, Malaysia has long played a role in Asian football disproportionate to its real influence.
The Malaysian football team is a rabble. There are no Malaysian teams in the Asian Champions League. The fixtures that took place in Malaysia in the recent Asian Cup, co-hosted by Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand, were the least attended of the tournament.
Malaysia is not a power in Asian football.
But, then again, neither is Qatar, and look at how Bin Hammam has used his position to help the tiny Gulf nation become a major player in Asian football.
This blow-up was a long time coming and it’s going to get even messier.
Whatever comes out of it, at least we’re going to get a rare insight, albeit fleeting, into the machinations of the secretive and not-as-united-as-we-think AFC.
Jesse Fink's columns now appear every Wednesday and Friday on The Roar.
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There are certain sentences a rugby writer believes he will never write and one them was (notice the past tense): 'Al Baxter monsters Andrew Sheridan...'
Ando said | August 1st 2008 @ 7:26am | Report comment
“The West Asian bloc in the AFC has long wielded disproportionate power in the 46-member AFC and it is getting worse. How, for instance, Qatar was allowed to move on to the final round of World Cup qualifiers after fielding a ineligible Brazilian against Iraq is something that is yet to be satisfactorily explained.”
For me, the most interesting part of the article. I didn’t know that Bin Hammam was Qatari, now everything makes so much more sense. Sigh, isn’t there a place for the idealistic notion that politics doesn’t play a key role in determining major decisions within sport?
md said | August 1st 2008 @ 7:53am | Report comment
Fantastic article…
I’ve been racking my brains to find the happy medium. Bhutan perhaps. Its hilly, secretive and not at all interested in the rest of the world. The perfect place for a FIFA affiliate to base itself. Just like Switzerland really, but with different shaped cows.
Cheers
md
NUFCMVFC said | August 1st 2008 @ 8:15am | Report comment
Put it in Singapore if they are going to move it, it isn’t a power but it is a significant trading hub of sorts but also a significant regional media centre - http://www.espnstar.com/football/
Interesting article though, quite a bit of intrigue there
NUFCMVFC said | August 1st 2008 @ 8:54am | Report comment
This brings me to another point as well about the FFA which is starting to really brew now, to a degree as a football fan in this country I would say that I actually understand where they are coming from with the “Australians are uncultured, insensitive, racist thugs” line, given the disgraceful treatment to the football community in this country
Now of course the FFA has a lot of people from the sporting and business backgrounds who used to do the persecuting, they have invaluable knowledge in some respects and some of it is what enabled us to be granted access into the AFC but it has become quite clear now that there is an imbalance with not enough football people involved and these non-football people are making ignorant “insensitive and uncultured” and quite frankly diabolical decisions on certain matters it requires someone of practical football background and understanding to be making
Referring to the “FFA grip suffocating fans” article on this website, the rationale for the FFA’s policies is a load of rubbish, FFA need to revisit their attitude and their ill-conceived HEM approach/agenda, this is true also in terms of the business side of things
Pippinu said | August 1st 2008 @ 9:42am | Report comment
Good article - Singapore does appear to have a lot going for it (md’s suggestion wasn’t bad either
Guy said | August 1st 2008 @ 10:01am | Report comment
His name is Mohammed. By referring to him as bin Hammam you are calling him “son of Hammam”. Perhaps the view of cultural insensitivity is evident in the ignorance of muslim names.
Koala Bear said | August 1st 2008 @ 10:26am | Report comment
Velappan, kept Australia out of Asia for decades and I have no sympathy for him.. AFC headquarters should be in the most neutral city in Asia.. Hong Kong..
~~~~~~~
KB
Jesse Fink said | August 1st 2008 @ 10:50am | Report comment
Guy, Bin Hammam’s own office refer to him as “Mr Bin Hammam”. By your rationale, should I start calling Osama bin Laden “Osama” forthwith? How many news organisations do you know that don’t refer to him as “Bin Laden”?
Ando said | August 1st 2008 @ 11:07am | Report comment
Not to be rude, but lets look at how many Mohammed’s there are in the world… Doesn’t seem practical to use the first name! This applies to other common names like George, Kevin, Mark, James.
Ben of Phnom Penh said | August 1st 2008 @ 11:46am | Report comment
I think the West Asia Bloc - Bin Hammam thing should not be overblown as our most recent vocal critics came from the Gulf States particularly Kuwait, yet it was Bin Hammam who championed our cause. Also I seem to recall that Qatar was publicly admonished by Bin Hammam for treating nationality with disdain with regards to purchasing footballers.
Qatar was the only city bidding for 2011. This is merely one part of a concerted push by Qatar to turn Doha into an events facilitator (note the Asian Games, golf tournaments, tennis etc etc etc) as it attempts to diversify its economy away from natural gas and follow the path laid out by Dubai. in UAE the World Club Championships should not be so surprising as it is a hub and has probably paid FIFA extremely well for the privilege. The event compliments other sporting events such as the Dubai 7’s. As such I can see both of these cities lobbying very hard for the AFC headquarters and would not be surprised at all if they present the strongest bids unless much larger countries, such as India, decide to wade into the debate.
With regards to their footballing influence, the gulf states require headline sporting sides to promote their sultanates to promote an image that reflects their ability to host events. Hence the support UAE gave to its cricket side, the car racing, horse racing and, naturally, football. Ironically Qatar’s greatest success in the football arena was the 1981 final of the FIFA World Youth Championship where they lost 4-0 to West Germany in Sydney whilst fielding an entirely indigenous side. Money and government policy has been the main driver of the gulf states football performances (ask Tony Popovic how much the Q-League offers players) rather than a concerted effort by Bin Hammam. Malaysia’s decline as a footballing nation hardly coincided with the departure of Velappan and Qatar’s rise, hardly meteoric, is still behind that of UAE and Bahrain.
Hong Kong was the HQ for the AFC from 1954 to 1965. Then it moved to Penang when the chairmanship changed, it moved again in 1975 to Ipoh…. when the chairmanship changed. In 1978 it moved to Kuala Lumpur when, you guessed it, the chairmanship changed. Bin Hammam hasn’t exactly been as quick off the mark as his predecessors, the fact the AFC owns property in KL being a factor, however it still isn’t anything entirely new. West, South & Central Asia hence have a legitimate claim for a chance to host HQ and whilst I’d prefer it to be somewhere like Japan, politics will probably ensure that this is not to be.
The case of Emerson was interesting as the player had allegedly falsified a birth certificate in order to attain a passport that made him appear younger than he was and also involved a slight change of name so he could play in the u-20s for Brazil which is how he was found out (as Brazilian federal agents confronted him when he went home). I cannot remember the FIFA ruling now however it was something along the lines that Qatar was unaware of the player’s duplicity and hence the federation was not at fault even though rules were breached. I think there is an issue of due diligence here which was messily avoided and should have been debated, particularly if countries are going to make a habit of importing national sides.
As an aside the heat seems to be getting to Bruce as his most recent brace, his third in a row, shows that he is finding it difficult to score more than two goals in a game. Poor lad.
Koala Bear said | August 1st 2008 @ 11:59am | Report comment
Ben,
thanks for the in depth post. Interesting read..
~~~~~~~
KB
Kazama said | August 1st 2008 @ 2:00pm | Report comment
Thanks for that informative post Ben. Much appreciated.
Yes, to help the Olyroos win gold Bruce would need to be scoring around five or six a game IMO; obviously Arnie now feels vindicated that he’s left him out after such poor showings in Turkey. That’s why Archie’s in the team - he can score the 13 goals we’ll probably need to get past Argentina.
jimbo said | August 1st 2008 @ 2:03pm | Report comment
Kazama,
Archie wasn’t picked to score goals, he was picked to support the defence.
Milligan will be the Olyroos top scorer with one and I’m not joking either.
Ben said | August 1st 2008 @ 2:48pm | Report comment
Jimbo, he’ll only be our top scorer if they count own goals! I reckon we’ll be kept scoreless all 3 games.
Kazama said | August 1st 2008 @ 2:55pm | Report comment
jimbo,
Judging from the last three results, the whole team wasn’t picked to score goals. Maybe Arnie will adopt the American Samoan approach to u/23s football and have 11 guys stand on the goal line (though they still lost 8-0 to NZ back in ‘03 with this approach).
Getting back on topic…
Ben,
On your point about how money is the driving force behind gulf football - I just remembered reading an interview with ex-Liverpool and West Ham forward Titi Camara a few years back. West Ham sent him on loan to Al-Ittihad in 2003. Asked if he missed life in England, Titi replied not at all. I recall him saying that was living in a huge mansion, owned limos and was being paid a ridiculous sum of money each week (for a player of his calibre anyway). No surprise that he never went back.
Cpaaa said | August 1st 2008 @ 5:06pm | Report comment
ill say it again.
this is why another book needs to come out by HTO. very impressive
Ben, you are a great wingman,
have a safe weekend all
Salvation said | August 1st 2008 @ 5:43pm | Report comment
Thanks for the quality. My vote would go for Japan as a neutral HQ. Never should the Prez have the party in his own house.
Millster said | August 1st 2008 @ 6:32pm | Report comment
I think Salvation’s point is right. Give the HQ to a nation on the condition that no-one in the AFC power structure can be from that same nation. So we’re thinking somewhere small but nice enough that the AFC gliterrati and officials will still enjoy a regular junket there. Oops there goes Bhutan and Bangladesh. Nepal (Kathmandu) Perhaps? Brunei? Sri Lanka?
Oh, and as an aside to KB, having only received today my visa to go to the Olympics in Beijing and associated travels after all manner of dramas, “neutral” is the last word that I would use to describe any Chinese territory however autonomous from all that HK supposedly is…
Midfielder said | August 1st 2008 @ 6:54pm | Report comment
Just a tho ……… move HO to Melbourne ……… would give AFL a shake for sure.
Koala Bear said | August 1st 2008 @ 6:57pm | Report comment
Millster,
from Bin Hammam .. No worries lad…
I would gladly offer up the Currumbin RSL as the new ACL Headquarters as an even more neutral location than Hong Kong. Including any support staff deem necessary to run the ACL organisation with presente Jimbo, assistants Norm, Sunbeam, and my good self to boot. No visas required, just a strong elbow. Hourly pick ups from the Gold Coast Airport, great entertainment, Gala Prawn nights, and Siberian mud wrestling .. Just waiting for the nod..
~~~~~~~~
KB
Koala Bear said | August 1st 2008 @ 7:05pm | Report comment
Bin Hammam Big mistake, AFC headquarters not the ACL headquarters — no wonder we have been missing out on the big gigs ..
she’ll be sweet Binni.. trust me..
~~~~~~
KB
Koala Bear said | August 1st 2008 @ 7:27pm | Report comment
Norm, Jimbo, Sunbeam,
may be a few from Grooky heading to the spud fields as well.. just have to wait and see after tonight’s games..
just received an official communique from Binni wanting more details on the CRSL, as a possible new location for the AFC Headquarters. It seems he is quite taken with the entertainment on show… No need to reply straight away, as I’m shutting down to watch the NRL .. and watch for anymore defections to France at half time..
~~~~~~~~
KB
Norm said | August 1st 2008 @ 10:29pm | Report comment
KB
I think we should go all out to entice Binni & crew. We could rent them the store room. The clincher might be Doris & the girls supplying morning tea - we just ned to be sure she doesn’t look to provide anything else.
dasilva said | August 2nd 2008 @ 12:33pm | Report comment
I actually think there is no problem of giving the AFC headquarter to another country. If Qatar was given it then it would be suspicious but going to another country is not a problem. I really don’t care much for history and the fact is Malaysia football at current state is a disgrace. Them trying to get Manchester United to play in Malaysia instead of supporting the Asia Cup that they are hosting to the full is enough reason to kick them out of HQ. If they didn’t do that I’m quite sure Malaysia wouldn’t be in this situation. Malaysia out of all country disgrace themself at Asia Cup. Now say what you want about Qatar but at least they are much better than malaysia and I’m quite sure they will get a better host of Asia Cup then Malaysia and wouldn’t indulge themself in cultural cringe in preferring EPL over their national team
dasilva said | August 2nd 2008 @ 1:26pm | Report comment
“was a longstanding attitude within the highest levels of the AFC that Australians were uncultured, insensitive, racist thugs”.
As a son of a migrant and from an ethnic minority and talking to other people from different minority groups and internationals students the idea that Australia is a racist country is completely bullshit. This is very tolerant country and australia now is different to 1940’s Australia. Unfortunately countries from overseas perception of australia is still stuck in 1940’s. During the Cronella riots Japan reported that Australia has fascist elements in the country. It will take time for this perception to change to recognise this country as a multicultural country (if only we weren’t ashame with that word). It is true that australia is a bit culturally insensitive and sometimes unintentionally offend people due to difference in culture and ignorance of other culture but none of this is rooted with the feeling that white skin is superior to other skin.
jimbo said | August 3rd 2008 @ 9:28pm | Report comment
Norm,
I don’t think we can trust Doris and her girlfriends in the CRSL storeroom with some of the richest Arabs in the world could we?
Then again it would give us a kick in the bucket for the old Socceroos World Cup Bid fund raising.
Do you reckon those Guitaris like prawns and lamingtons?
KB,
I’ll take on the AFC Presidente job if you let me grow a Zapata style moustache and I can have the CRSL president’s car parking space.
Leo Kelly has agreed to rent us Blacktown AFL Park for the WC Final of 2018 as long as we build a statue of him holding a golden Easter egg (with water feature of course) at the Blacktown Creek end entrance.
Koala Bear said | August 4th 2008 @ 8:40am | Report comment
Jimbo and Norm,
according to the CRSL dress code… Thongs, Bronco shorts & footy socks, navy blue singlets are within the proper dress codes.. Happy to say, there is no mention of Zapata style moustache being outlawed. The 80’s style Jason Donovan mullet (Neighbors) is still the rage in the club, with a lot of our associate members; so I wouldn’t think too many of the Auxiliary would object to a tickle on the pussie, Sam Newman style of course..
Dasilva,
btw that is not my view..
I am delighted that you had a kind word about Sam Newman.. He has been so unjustly condemned of late…
~~~~~~~~
KB
dasilva said | August 4th 2008 @ 12:42pm | Report comment
Koala Bear. What did Sam Newman said? I don’t follow AFL so I wouldn’t know what did Sam Newman said.
Koala Bear said | August 4th 2008 @ 5:20pm | Report comment
Dasilva,
He was arrogantly sexist towards the minister for tourism/sport in Tasmania who happens to be a woman.. references to her being a good lay on national TV but worse.. I can’t bring myself to type his exact words but they were disgusting..
~~~~~~~
KB
Norm said | August 4th 2008 @ 10:53pm | Report comment
jimbo KB
so its a done deal. jimbo to be the new AFC Prez, KB you can take on the treasurer’s role & Doris can oversee event management. 2018 WC final to be held at Blacktown AFL Park with the winning team to receive not the “FIFA World Cup” statuette but the all new ” Leo Kelly” statuette.
md said | August 5th 2008 @ 8:32am | Report comment
http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=105598
More on the shambles that is Malaysian football. All foreign players are now banned. In fairness to bin Hamman, Malaysia is hardly the posterchild nation for the AFC.
Cheers
md.
Ben of Phnom Penh said | August 5th 2008 @ 5:42pm | Report comment
I saw that the other day and was thinking much the same, md. There are some serious issues with the FAM and the Super and Premier Leagues in Malaysia which are largely structural and to deal with them will go against much of the vested interest in the competition. This ban looks like a cosmetic attempt to avoid the harder decisions. As dasilva noted the FAM’s attempt to have Man U arrive in Malaysia during the Asia Cup which Malaysia was co-hosting is a good example of the management issues that need to be addressed before Malaysian football can progress.
Koala Bear said | August 5th 2008 @ 6:04pm | Report comment
MD and Ben,
glad you all agree — its unaminous, the CRSL as the new headquarters of the AFC and I can see a great big smile on lord mayor’s face Ron Clarke, after failing to secure the services of Dwight Yorke..
~~~~~~~
KB
md said | August 6th 2008 @ 9:21am | Report comment
KB - rumour has it that big Ron is leading the charge to secure Bozza for next season. Apparently he is willing to throw in 2 metre maids and a year of free free advanced hair treatment.
Cheers
md
Redb said | August 6th 2008 @ 9:33am | Report comment
KB,
I bet Sam Newman would go down a treat at the CRSL.
Redb
p.s I fully agree with your comments on Sam Newman and his low brow sleazy comments.